In today's commercial aircraft specially constructed structural components are used at highly stressed positions. The attachment device for a crew rest compartment may be an example of such a structural component, wherein the structural component is on the one hand firmly connected to this compartment, while on the other hand the forces introduced into the structural components can be transmitted to the frame elements of the aircraft by way of tension and compression rods. The structural components can thus, by way of a change in the direction of force, transmit the forces that act on one end to the other end, wherein in the structural component predominantly bending forces are generated. Such structural components are usually manufactured from aluminium alloys or titanium alloys with the use of conventional manufacturing methods, for example milling, turning or casting, wherein on the one hand the structural component can comprise individual components, e.g. supporting pillars and retaining elements that can be interconnected, e.g. by means of welding or riveting. On the other hand such a structural component can also be made from one block with a correspondingly great amount of machining.
However, it has been shown that by means of these methods freeform areas, undercut areas or cavities can be produced only to a limited extent. Consequently, the components, which are optimised for example by means of a numeric method, need to be designed in such a manner that they can be manufactured in the selected conventional manufacturing methods. A situation thus occurs in which the component geometries that by means of simulation have been shown to be ideal, cannot be realised for reasons connected to manufacturing technology, or that at many positions of the structural component more material remains in place than would be necessary for the transmission of forces. The resulting higher weight is undesirable, in particular in aircraft engineering, because it results in higher energy consumption during the flight phase.